


In, Out, Under

by Umbr_el_on



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Buried Alive, Gen, M/M, Minor Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, POV Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26827642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbr_el_on/pseuds/Umbr_el_on
Summary: Felix realized, as he startled into alertness at the sound of footsteps, that the darkness around him wasn’t from his eyes being closed.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	In, Out, Under

**Author's Note:**

> A collab for day 4 of whumptober with the wonderful [Silverdrift!](%E2%80%9C)

Felix realized, as he startled into alertness at the sound of footsteps, that the darkness around him wasn’t from his eyes being closed.

Faintly, he could hear voices carrying from somewhere nearby, but he didn’t know who it was. Strangely, they sounded as if they were coming from above him. Felix took a breath that felt unsatisfying as he listened, but even with effort he couldn’t tell who was there. Ignoring the ache in his body and straining to listen to and identify whoever was speaking, Felix moved to sit up.

His head slammed into something hard after just a few inches of pushing himself on battered arms.

Shouting in surprise, Felix slammed back down against the hard surface beneath him. Reaching for his head to dull the ache caused from the two impacts, Felix’s hand also hit something hard. Piecing together the information he had, Felix felt his blood go cold.

He was buried alive.

Trapped under an unknown amount of earth, inside a box too small for him to move, Felix realized how hot the box was. Sweat had built up over his back and face, body heat insulated in. The strangeness Felix felt in his lungs was brought on by lack of air, his body slowly raising the alarms that he was suffocating. Literally trapped with nothing but himself, Felix could only think about what to do.

Fighting down the urge to take a deep breath and willing his pulse to slow, Felix closed his eyes. Terror ripped through his mind like a hurricane, but logic battled back. He could not panic. Panic costed air, something too short in supply to waste in this situation, and would invite more heat to dehydrate him. Allowing one indulgent chill to race down his spine, Felix decided on his next move.

He started rhythmically raising a fist to the coffin, knocking as loud as he could given the small space he had to move.

The footsteps walked over him again, just as his arm grew too tired to keep knocking. It was then that Felix realized it was not a great idea to resume. The last thing he could remember was someone attacking him on the way to his car, the darkness of a 3 am parking lot leaving him vulnerable. Whoever it was had beaten Felix until he fell unconscious and, presumably, put him down here. What if it was them waiting to ensure they finished what they started?

Felix’s attempts to remain quiet were ruined when his phone chimed, announcing to everyone an incoming text.

If someone was up there, waiting for him to die, they would have heard that. Realizing he was running out of time before he either suffocated or was dug up and killed for real, Felix slid his hand into his pocket. The tight squeeze was a challenge to accommodate, but Felix pushed through muscle strains and splinters to get his phone where he could see it. The text from Sylvain was easy to ignore as he navigated to his contacts. His grave couldn’t be too deep if he had service, but his battery was running low. As fog outlined the edges of his oxygen starved brain, Felix called Ashe.

After what felt like an eternity of rings but thankfully no footsteps, Felix was slapped with Ashe’s voicemail.

“I’m not available right now, please try again soon!” Ashe’s recorded voice chirped, and Felix worried he’d never hear that sound again.

Desperation rising in his throat, Felix ended the call tried again. The speaker screamed out ring after agonizing ring, taunting him with the unreachable idea of escape in his hands. When Felix resigned himself to a dead battery that soothing yet painful voicemail once again, he was instead blessed with Ashe’s live voice.

“Felix! Oh thank god… where are you? I-I can’t find you anywhere and I got this, this call, a-and-“ Ashe began to ramble, but Felix cut him off.

“Buried. Jumped after work. Low on air and battery,” Felix explained with as few words as he could, preserving oxygen as well as he could.

Ashe shrieked. “Buried? Like... in a coffin?”

“Yes.” Felix took a shallow breath, unwilling to slip away while Ashe was right there.

“Dimitri! H-he said he’s buried somewhere and needs air. He got jumped after work and his battery is almost dead. Fuck, i-it must be so dark and small and he must be scared. He doesn’t have much time! We gotta… we… oh my god...” Ashe’s distant voice broke down into sobs, followed by the sound of the phone being moved.

“Felix. I’m looking up your location while I help Ashe. Try to stay calm, alright?” Dimitri sounded level as he ever was, unshaken when it mattered most.

“Trying,” Felix muttered, too far gone to wonder why Dimitri was there.

A few minutes of incomprehensible talking stretched on before Dimitri’s voice carried clearly through the device again. “I have your location. We are on our way, just hold on a little longer.”

Felix grunted in understanding, feeling too weak to respond further. The phone was passed again, and Ashe was back on the line. He babbled through tears about how he should have called sooner, how he loved Felix and wanted him home, and other things Felix couldn’t understand beyond broad strokes of meaning through the sobs and his impending unconsciousness. Feeling himself giving in to the lack of air despite his best efforts, Felix took a nearly useless breath and said the only thing that mattered in that moment.

“I love you, Ashe.”

His eyes slipped shut to the sound of footsteps above him and his phone slipping out of his hand to clatter against the wood.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [Twitter!](https://mobile.twitter.com/umbr_el_on) ✨💕


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